Just a few days after the city’s universities resumed physical classes for students after an interval of 11 months, the Pune local district administration once again ordered the closure of all educational institutions until February 28. The decision was made as a precautionary measure at a time when COVID-19 cases are on the rise again.
With new cases of COVID-19 reported by institutions, three schools had been closed as of Saturday. On Sunday, three cases of COVID-19 were reported among students in Class IX of Delhi Public School, Mohammedwadi.
Suresh Jagtap, additional municipal commissioner, confirmed that three students tested positive, indicating that the school and bus facilities have been disinfected and the local district office has tracked all 16 students in the class.
Meanwhile, the decision to close institutions has drawn the ire of school leaders, for whom rescheduling academic calendars is proving a challenge.
“This kind of uncertainty is terrible for students. We reopen the universities on the 15thth And it hasn’t even been a week They should have stepped up the vaccination campaign and then opened universities, ”said Director Gulshan Gidwani of St Mira’s College.
Most principals said that switching to physical classes from online took weeks of preparation and the decision to resume offline lectures should have been better coordinated.
“That is why we were reluctant to start schools. As educators, we cannot make such arbitrary decisions. Even after the reopening date was announced, we waited a few more days and then we started schools, because it is not just inconvenient, it leaves a huge psychological impact on students and staff. Such messy planning makes us look disoriented, ”said a school principal who requested anonymity.
Meera Nair, director of the Amanora school, said a five to six day shutdown is not a solution. “We cannot allow the authorities to issue instinctive and directive reactions to schools. There are rules for teachers and staff to take tests before resuming school, but nothing for students. We had started especially for students whose performance was very poor, calling them in small batches. Practices had also started for X grade students, with staggered schedules and in small groups. The exam schedules were shared with a request for all IX and X students to log out and take their exams. However, a good majority of parents were against the decision and now there is this new closure order. This decision will only set back all the grassroots work started by the schools, ”he said.
Most school and university administrations said they had backup plans in place in the event of a repeat shutdown and that teaching and exams would be back online.
Praneet Mungali, administrator of the Sanskriti School, said: “There are two crucial preconditions for the safe operation of schools in today’s environment. First, the level of virus circulation in the city should be below a certain threshold. Second, schools will need to implement strict COVID safety protocols. “
Mungali added: “In the current situation in Pune, the virus positivity rate has doubled in the last fortnight. Plans need to be readjusted for now to ensure overall safety. We had already declared a one week preventative break on Saturday, although internally we have strong COVID safety protocols. We have a backup plan in place for such a scenario and it will be implemented to ensure there is no learning loss for any student. “
Rajendra Zunjarrao, director of Modern College, said online lectures and practices would start over for students. “Since we are an autonomous institute, permission can be sought from the academic council and the governing body to keep all exams online,” he said.
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